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Three controversial bills were tabled in Sāmoa’s parliament in February 2020 and became law on 5 January 2021. The new legislation removed the Land and Titles Court from provisions in the Constitution of Sāmoa for protection of individual rights, on the grounds that constitutional provisions for individual rights were incompatible with Sāmoan collective rights. In this article we discuss the background to the controversial constitutional amendments that precipitated the formation of the new political party and a change of government in the 2021 elections. We reflect critically on the contention that Sāmoa has customary laws in conflict with individual rights. We argue that Sāmoa does not have customary laws in the sense that its customs, practices or rules of conduct or action are prescribed and formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority. Modern practices in conferring  matai  titles and asserting rights to customary land are changing. In some respects over the past fifty years they have become more egalitarian; however, Sāmoan culture is based on elaborate and enduring protocols and values that tend to discourage individualism. Sāmoa does not need a separate and independent Land and Titles Court to defend collective rights.

Sāmoan Custom, Individual Rights, and the Three 2020 Acts: Reorganizing the Land and Titles Court